Rosenbaum, Marsha. “Legalization of Marijuana: What About the Kids?” Huffingtonpost.com. The Huffington Post, 02 Dec. 2014. Web. 15 July 2015.
Marsha Rosenbaum, a former National Institute on Drug Abuse researcher and founder of the Drug Policy Alliance ‘Safety First’ drug education project sheds light on the hidden concern that such legalization reforms may affect teenagers. Rosenbaum specifically argues that legalization would “send the wrong message” ultimately causing an increase in teenage consumption of marijuana.
Stating that “the end of marijuana prohibition seems inevitable due to a majority of Americans favoring legalization” Rosenbaum enforces her knowledge that although none of the new reforms would allow the sale to minors, parents like her as she states, still hold worry for their children. As a federal funded researcher, Rosenbaum points out her daily work regularly checking survey data that revealed a majority of teens responded that they would not try marijuana even if it were legal. Although this statement may counter her very own argument, that legalization would cause increase use within teenagers, she states that “Even if legalization for adults does not affect teenage use, it does present an opportunity to re-think our approach to drug prevention and education”.
In other words, although Rosenbaum honestly states her tested research proved that the rates of teenage marijuana use are fairly low, she indicates that to keep it this way parents must take the opportunity provided to teach and educate teens on strategies for dealing with marijuana in this new era. As Rosenbaum suggest that a majority of teenagers have used marijuana, for this reason as a parent, drug education is important to emphasize to get them to understand that legalization applies to adults only and the consequences of use under twenty one years of age are taken seriously.
Rosenbaum remarks that as a mother herself, and speaking for many parents whom she believes that also carry the same worry, “are in quandary about how much to reveal to their kids about their past or present use to educate, fearing honest admissions might open the door to their teen’s experimentation.” However, “there is no easy, simple answers”, the approach to teens about the use of marijuana and other drugs is important as she concludes.
I have found this article very useful for my research due to my wonder and personal experience of not being a marijuana user. Pondering questions of teenage consumption, this article provided factual insight on the topic. The author held a very similar viewpoint that I hold, and allowed me to broaden her findings and theory into an understandable prospective. The effect of marijuana legalization on teenagers is not a topic often discussed, but I believe it is one that must not go unnoticed due to its potential to possibly create escalation in teenage use.
The research summary brings up a good point but wouldn’t it feel too little too late. Even if a parent were to tell their children about how legalization is only for adults they would most likely disregard it. Legalization of pot really doesn’t send a wrong message as it’s mostly the same with other drugs such alcohol which are already legal.
I do agree about the fact that if legalization happens kids should be made aware of the drug, but they should be told the truth, and treat marijuana for what it is a medicinal drug. However, I do agree that there should be an age if marijuana is legalized for recreational use, just like there is for tobacco and alcohol.
Legalization could send the wrong message. I strongly agree that education on the subject also plays a strong role on whether or not teens will smoke pot. We will definitely have to come up with new ways on teach kids the good and the bad regarding pot use. This is a topic that I’m interested in since I believe education plays a major role on decision making. I might look further into this topic.